Our tech guys aren’t geeks at all, when they are not working their wizardry they are out kayaking and mountain biking. Still, when they are as dedicated as our boys with their faces blazing white with screen burn, I suppose you’re going to offset it with some outdoor pursuits. Who wouldn’t?
All that hard work, endeavour and know-how has been harnessed to bring new life to the web-site. In the end it’s our shop front and we like it Oxford Street neat and far more efficient.
We spoke to one of our tech guys who takes care of the website in order to learn about what’s been happening plus a bit about him too!
PARKERBRAND: You guys are in that upstairs room that always has the blinds closed! What’s up with that?
OLLIE: The magic mate! No, the sun bouncing off the screen drives us nuts - which is shame as I’m an outdoor guy – you have to balance out the desk time.
PB: True! We want you guys happy. So, we all know it’s been a busy time. What do you like to do when you chill?
OLLIE: Well I’m really into kayaking and mountain biking – sometimes it really gives me the mental space to come up with creative responses to design questions – sometimes it’s just a buzz!
PB: Yeah you guys definitely have to be on point and we know you’re under a fair bit of pressure without the website being perfect we’d have unhappy customers and the Customer care team wouldn’t be as cheery as they normally are.
OLLIE: Too true – I know people call up and that’s great but let’s face it the website is where orders are placed and our ever-expanding range is featured - there seems to be more all the time and that’s great. It certainly keeps us on our toes.
PB: The site looks great, we’ve all noticed that each item is well illustrated and fully described with all the technical info. We know there have been bigger changes though – can you fill us in?
OLLIE: Sure! The most important change has been related to searching the site – the site has been massively optimised so that when customers search for an item it finds what they are looking for even as they type. It ranks all the products as you search, this might be by value for money, popularity or even what best fits what the customer is typing.
PB: That sounds complex – but totally worth the effort. I suppose it means that customers get what they are looking for quicker?
OLLIE: Exactly! They can also see some different options. If they type in chainsaw, they will see the range and even parts from the search box and can immediately choose what they want to take a closer look at what they are after!
PB: My typing is terrible, especially on my mobile - any help on that front?
OLLIE: I know what you mean mate, I might be a techie but I’m still one-fingered Joe on a mobile! It picks up typos really well now. It will find what you’re looking for. The optimisation of the website is for all formats – it works equally well on a mobile, tablet, laptop or desktop computer. It makes no difference what you use.
PB: Great news. It’s really fast as well – faster than before, right?
OLLIE: Yeah it was pretty good anyway but we’ve now got the load time down to 2 seconds on average.
PB: Wow, that’s near instant!
OLLIE: ha, yeah pretty much – it was what the Boss wanted for the customers so we got it done.
PB: Bang on, we all know who the most important people are at ParkerBrand – the customers! What else have we got going on?
OLLIE: Well we know that easy ordering is what people really like, so we’ve got a one page one order system working even faster. You don’t have to sign up you can check out as a guest.
PB: And we’re still doing PayPal as well as the usual banks cards yeah?
OLLIE: Yep, its business as usual when it comes to payment; simple and straightforward and very safe.
PB: So what we can safely say is that it’s easier than ever for our customers to find what they want and order?
OLLIE: That’s a big YES – it doesn’t matter if it’s a spare part, a standard machine or a bundle they’ll find it double quick with the newly optimised site.
PB: Perfect! Okay so to round up and make people understand you’re human, Ollie, not a droid we want to know: Your fav dish/
OLLIE: Spaghetti and meatballs – cooked by Mum!
PB: Sure you haven’t got Italian roots? Childhood cartoon fav?
OLLIE: Scooby Doo, no question! What’s next?
PB: What really motivates you?
OLLIE: Seeing my finished work online…seriously...Picasso stood back and looked at his easel, I click refresh or upload and get a similar sort of feeling!
PB: Okay Picasso, what’s the hardest thing about working at ParkerBrand?
OLLIE: Keeping up with a really demanding boss in all honesty, but he certainly gets the best out of me – do I get my P45 now?
PB: HA! No way, you’re way too good to let go!
You get the best from the best with ParkerBrand.
